The sport of paintball has enjoyed great success in recent years. In the game, each one of two or more teams try to capture the opposing team's flag. The players on the teams each carry a gas-powered gun that shoots paintballs--gelatin covered spherical capsules which contain a colored liquid--a considerable distance. When a player is hit with a paintball fired from a gun, the paintball ruptures and leaves a colored "splat" on the hit player who is then "out" and must leave the game.
Central to the sport is the paintball gun. While paintball guns of various designs are commercially available, all paintball guns have certain common features. A typical paintball gun includes a gun barrel from which paintballs are ejected, an in-feed tube which provides access to the gun barrel, a loader which is mounted to the in-feed tube and supplies paintballs to the barrel via the in-feed tube, a compressed gas tank mounted to the body of the paintball gun, a conduit which couples an outlet valve of the compressed gas tank and the barrel and a trigger, the actuation of which causes the delivery of compressed gas to the barrel to forcibly eject a paintball therefrom.
The location on the paintball gun where the compressed gas tank is mounted will vary depending on the design of the particular paintball gun. In a number of designs, the compressed gas tank is either mounted to or otherwise incorporated as part of a rear stock portion of the paintball gun typically used as a shoulder rest. Handling of a paintball gun configured in this manner is quite similar to handling a rifle. However, as the dimensions of many paintball guns are considerably smaller, mounting the compressed gas tank on a rear portion thereof renders paintball guns unnecessarily unwieldy. Accordingly, for many paintball guns, the compressed gas tank is mounted to a bottom portion thereof. For example, many compressed gas tanks are mounted to a bottom side surface of a central handgrip portion of the paintball gun. While mounting the compressed gas tank to the bottom of the paintball gun has successfully shortened the length of many guns, thereby enabling players to carry the paintball gun, preferably grasped by both hands, forward of the body. This has allowed considerable flexibility in movement. For example, players can aim the paintball gun in a variety of directions without having to pivot the torso.
However, there are also certain disadvantages to positioning the compressed gas tank below the paintball gun. More specifically, by positioning the compressed gas tank in this manner, the vertical profile of the paintball gun is increased substantially. Furthermore, when the compressed gas tank is the lowermost portion of the paintball gun, it often interferes with use of the paintball gun. For example, if a player seeks to lay on the ground and wait for their opponent to come into range, the player will often try to support the paintball gun on the ground. Not only does the compressed gas tank force the paintball gun to sit uncomfortably high, the rounded surface which characterizes most compressed gas tanks will increase the difficulty of keeping the paintball gun level and motionless. Similarly, the increased vertical profile of the paintball gun which results from mounting the compressed gas tank on the bottom surface of the paintball gun can make it easier for an opponent to spot the paintball gun. For example, players will often camouflage themselves behind an object but extend the paintball gun past the edge of the object. If the compressed gas tank is positioned below the remainder of the paintball gun, the paintball gun may be easier to spot. Here, it should be noted that most paintball guns use gravity actuated loaders. As a result, the paintball gun cannot be turned on its side before extending it past the edge of the camouflaging object.